ABSTRACT
Using a survey research approach this study verified the extent of public awareness of tourism benefits in southern Cross River State, Nigeria. With random sampling technique, 510 subjects were drawn from a population of all inhabitants of the state’s southern senatorial district. A 28-item questionnaire tagged “Awareness of Tourism Benefits Scale” (ATBS) was designed to collect data. The instrument had a test-retest reliability estimate of 0.82, this value shows that the instrument is stable in yielding data for this study. Population t-test was used to analyse obtained data which was tested at .05 level of significance. The finding revealed that public awareness of tourism benefits was very high. It is therefore recommended that relevant public and private authorities should make conscious and adequate efforts to enhance tourism related activities to encourage people to harness its benefits.